Three Minute Leadership: We Are What We Repeatedly Do

To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning

Stephen Covey wrote: “Our character is basically a composition of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.” Our habits, then, are the building blocks of character.

A recent Leading Blog, 20 Habits to Build Your Leader, discusses Brad Lomenick’s, book H3 Leadership, in which Lomenick suggests twenty habits at the foundation of great character and leadership. He organized them around three key questions that great leaders ask to be highly effective in the professional and personal career journey.

HUMBLE: Who am I?

Self-Discovery: Know who you are

Openness: Share the real you with others

Meekness: Remember it’s not about you

Conviction: Stick to your principles

Faith: Prioritize your day so God is first

Assignment: Live out your calling

HUNGRY: Where do I want to go?

Ambition: Develop an appetite for what’s next

Curiosity: Keep learning

Passion: Love what you do

Innovation: Stay current, creative, and engaged

Inspiration: Nurture a vision for a better tomorrow

Bravery: Take calculated risks

HUSTLE: How will I get there?

Excellence: Set standards that scare you

Stick-with-it-ness: Take the long view

Execution: Commit to completion

Team Building: Create an environment that attacks and retains the best and brightest

Partnership: Collaborate with colleagues and competitors

Margin: Nurture healthier rhythms

Generosity: Leave the world a better place

Succession: Find power in passing the baton

Aristotle wrote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Warren Buffet said: “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” John Dryden tell us: “We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” And beautifully Frank Outlaw wrote:

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Habits begin with a single choice, each being the path of our destiny. We are what we repeatedly do. May we continue to be more than we ever dreamed we could be… and more… so much more. What a magnificent habit as the cornerstone of our character.

Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!

Mike

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